An audit of pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing regulatory submissions and outcomes in the US.

Continuous manufacturing (CM) sends materials directly and continuously to the next step of a process, eliminating hold times and reducing processing times. The potential benefits of CM include improved product quality, reduced waste, lower costs, and increased manufacturing flexibility and agility. Some pharmaceutical manufacturers have been hesitant to adopt CM owing to perceived regulatory risks such as increased time to regulatory approval and market entry, more difficulty submitting postapproval changes, and higher inspectional scrutiny. An FDA self-audit of regulatory submissions in the U.S. examined the outcomes, at approval and during the product lifecycle, of continuous manufacturing applications as compared to traditional batch applications. There were no substantial regulatory barriers identified for CM applications related to manufacturing process changes or pre-approval inspections. CM applicants had relatively shorter times to approval and market as compared to similar batch applications, based on the mean or median times to approval (8 or 3 months faster) and marketing (12 or 4 months faster) from submission, translating to an estimated $171-537 M in early revenue benefit.

Comparing a Statistical Model and Bayesian Approach to Establish the Design Space for the Coating of Ciprofloxacin HCl Beads at Different Scales of Production.

The primary objective of this study was to compare two methods for establishing a design space for critical process parameters that affect ethylcellulose film coating of multiparticulate beads and assess this design space validity across manufacturing scales. While there are many factors that can affect film coating, this study will focus on the effects processing conditions have on the quality and extent of film formation, as evaluated by their impact coating yield and drug release. Ciprofloxacin HCl layered beads were utilized as an active substrate core, ethylcellulose aqueous dispersion as a controlled release polymer, and triethyl citrate as a plasticizer. Thirty experiments were conducted using a central composite design to optimize the coating process and map the response surface to build a design space using either statistical least squares or a Bayesian approach. The response surface was fitted using a linear two-factor interaction model with spraying temperature, curing temperature, and curing time as significant model terms. The design spaces established by the two approaches were in close agreement with the statistical least squares approach being more conservative than the Bayesian approach. The design space established for the critical process parameters using small-scale batches was tested using scale-up batches and found to be scale-independent. The robustness of the design space was confirmed across scales and was successfully utilized to establish process signature for the coating process.

A Systematic Approach of Employing Quality by Design Principles: Risk Assessment and Design of Experiments to Demonstrate Process Understanding and Identify the Critical Process Parameters for Coating of the Ethylcellulose Pseudolatex Dispersion Using Non-Conventional Fluid Bed Process.

The goal of this study was to utilize risk assessment techniques and statistical design of experiments (DoE) to gain process understanding and to identify critical process parameters for the manufacture of controlled release multiparticulate beads using a novel disk-jet fluid bed technology. The material attributes and process parameters were systematically assessed using the Ishikawa fish bone diagram and failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) risk assessment methods. The high risk attributes identified by the FMEA analysis were further explored using resolution V fractional factorial design. To gain an understanding of the processing parameters, a resolution V fractional factorial study was conducted. Using knowledge gained from the resolution V study, a resolution IV fractional factorial study was conducted; the purpose of this IV study was to identify the critical process parameters (CPP) that impact the critical quality attributes and understand the influence of these parameters on film formation. For both studies, the microclimate, atomization pressure, inlet air volume, product temperature (during spraying and curing), curing time, and percent solids in the coating solutions were studied. The responses evaluated were percent agglomeration, percent fines, percent yield, bead aspect ratio, median particle size diameter (d50), assay, and drug release rate. Pyrobuttons® were used to record real-time temperature and humidity changes in the fluid bed. The risk assessment methods and process analytical tools helped to understand the novel disk-jet technology and to systematically develop models of the coating process parameters like process efficiency and the extent of curing during the coating process.

Application of quality by design (QbD) approach to ultrasonic atomization spray coating of drug-eluting stents.

The drug coating process for coated drug-eluting stents (DES) has been identified as a key source of inter- and intra-batch variability in drug elution rates. Quality-by-design (QbD) principles were applied to gain an understanding of the ultrasonic spray coating process of DES. Statistically based design of experiments (DOE) were used to understand the relationship between ultrasonic atomization spray coating parameters and dependent variables such as coating mass ratio, roughness, drug solid state composite microstructure, and elution kinetics. Defect-free DES coatings composed of 70% 85:15 poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) and 30% everolimus were fabricated with a constant coating mass. The drug elution profile was characterized by a mathematical model describing biphasic release kinetics. Model coefficients were analyzed as a DOE response. Changes in ultrasonic coating processing conditions resulted in substantial changes in roughness and elution kinetics. Based on the outcome from the DOE study, a design space was defined in terms of the critical coating process parameters resulting in optimum coating roughness and drug elution. This QbD methodology can be useful to enhance the quality of coated DES.